What’s the most amazing meal you’ve eaten while traveling?

When we travel, food often plays an important part in the experience, and a great meal can be one of the best memories.

For me it’s back to Brazil and an all-you-can-eat meat restaurant in Rio side street — just course after course of every cut of meat imaginable (sorry veggies, what can I say, I’m a card carrying carnivore!).

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24 thoughts on "What’s the most amazing meal you’ve eaten while traveling?"

Barbara Thomassays:

Near the end of our winter visit to New Zealand, we happened upon the Cornerstone Bistro in Russell, a suburb of Christ Church. The restaurant was understated, but quiet and elegant, and the service was exceptional. I don’t remember much about the meal, except an overall memory that it was delicious. But I will never forget the dessert. The chef had made jelly from roasted rhubarb, then topped that with strawberry sorbet, toasted gingerbread cookie crumbs, and a rhubarb “foam”. The entire confection was topped with pistachio brittle. It was beautiful to look at (candlelight flickering through the rhubarb jelly was gorgeous!), but it was incredibly delicious. We raved about the dessert so much that the chef came out from the kitchen to tell us how to make it at home.
Food and wine are generally superb in NZ, and this dinner was a wonderful ending to our trip.

Iceland – Restaurant LÃ¦kjarbrekka
An incredible (and expensive) dinner for two here. Multi-course fabulous meal in one of the oldest buildings in the Capital. Reservations are a must.
My wife and I spent several hours just relaxing and enjoying the food, the people and atmosphere.
Hope to go back again.

Sheep’s Brains with toast at a restaurant overlooking Kabul in Afganistan in 1978 just before the Russians arrived. I was there as a tourist back-packing from New Zealand to UK. At Bamyan it was so cold petrol froze in a truck (it turns to gel) so they lit a fire under the petrol tank.

1) Dinner in Le Bistro, the premium French restaurant on Norwegian Cruise Lines Pride of Aloha, while on a Hawaiian cruise. Escargots, foie gras (make that a double order for both, please) and duck a l’orange finished table-side. We were one of the few diners on the first night of the cruise and the waiter was as incredible as the food. We make it a point to eat at Zagat and Michelin top-rated restaurants everywhere we travel all over the US and Europe – and this topped them all. Probably one of most transcendent dining experiences I have had anywhere at any price – almost worth the price of the cruise itself considering how it bested meals at stratospherically pricey places like Tour D’Argent, Taillevent, etc.

2) Club Gascon in London where we had a 4-course lunch consisting of incredibly inventive preparations of foie gras (and we each had a different dish per course and shared) – including foie gras desserts!

We are just returned from a trip to Shanghia were we ate many great things: a Younan meal, street food noodles, a great Peking duck …but the BEST was a Crepe restuarant in the French Concession where I enjoyed a crepe with tuna and many spices, my husband had a berry and cream crepe…..never under estiamate the Chinese!

Fish belly (actually swim bladder), sea cucumber, shark fin, 1000 year old egg (actually only 200-300 years old according to my host), birds nest soup, and a soup that looked like sinus drainage in Beijing. Their motto is “We everything on four legs but the table.” I would do it again in a heartbeat.

The best meals that I have ever eaten while traveling have all been in local “Trattorias” in Italy. Coincidentally, these meals have also been the most reasonably priced, made with the freshest of ingredients and often the simplest. My personal favorites are lasagne, pizza and GELATO!!!!
Fantastico!!!

Two, actually, though I consider this a meal some wouldn’t–insalata caprese! In Sorrento and throughout the Campagnia region and Amalfi Coast in particular made with “bufala” mozzarella so fresh and milky it almost squishes and tomatoes still warm from the vine garnished with fresh basil–drizzle some olive oil and a bit of balsamic vinegar over it and you’ve got heaven on earth! But for an entree, we had some simple grilled pork ribs and grilled veggies (all from local Sienese farms) on the road north of Siena in Tuscany at a small roadside restaurant. Mmmmmm…

A business trip in the early 1970s took a friend and me to Rabat, Morocco, via Paris. We had a several-hour layover at Orly airport, which was then still the principal Paris airport. It was about noon when we got there, so we decided to “have lunch” at one of the restaurants. Best meal either one of us has ever had! We found out later that it was a Michelin two-star restaurant, and that people came out from the city specifically to eat there — not just travelers like us.

Most are memorable for the place as well as the food. PIzza in Roma; Paella in Barcelona; Rodizio (a parade of grilled beef) in Sao Paulo; Sourdough in San Francisco; Schnitzel in Vienna; Seafood on the coast in La Rochelle; A slice almost anywhere in NY or NJ;

Then there are the restaurants that I will always revisit. Michelbob’s Ribs in Naples Florida; Penne Vodka at Carmine’s in Manhattan; Peking Duck at Bianyifang in Beijing; Arrachera at El Tio in Monterrey. Pollo en Mole at Barrigas in Juarez; Deep Fried Hot Dog at Rutt’s Hut in Clifton, NJ; I could go on, but I’m hungry now.

Le Petit Nice near Marseilles, a Michelin two-star, served the most beautiful meal I’ve ever eaten abroad during over 30 trips. The appetizer featured three types of fish perfectly placed upon a base of “sand” (actually sea salt), and each subsequent course was presented even more elegantly than the previous one.

My most memorable meals have been more influenced by the “where” than the “what” I’ve eaten. For me, virtually any meal in Greece tops the list–the ambiance and surroundings, good humor, and friendly service make everything special.

I always like to eat local while traveling, and have (mostly) enjoyed all the different flavors wherever I go. My favorites are the foods of Indian and Thai/Khmer cuisines, which so skillfully blend sweet, spicy, and sour.

For pure uniqueness, though, two of my most memorable meals have been a traditional meal of Svickova enjoyed in a local’s “pub” in Praque; the other was a fantastic meal of Cous Cous and Lamb in the Medina of Tunis at a restaurant called Dar Jeld.

The most amazing and delicious meal was at a vegan restaurant in Brighton, UK. I had taken my vegan son and daughter-in-law to dinner at a restaurant we had never before seen. Honestly, I expected it to be quite terrible as my experiences in feeding my son since he chose to be a vegan had been tasteless. he food was beautifully presented – though I could not identify anything on our plates – and so I took pictures. I was glad I did as it was incredibly delicious. It was also expensive, though I was happy to pay every penny. It was beautiful, tasty, and the best surprise meal of my life.

Although not spectacular in the sense of being a sumptuous five-star meal, probably the most memorable meal my wife and I ever had was at a very small country restaurant in Per, Hungary, called the Feher Akac Etterem (White Acacia Restaurant). Both the Hortobagy palacsinta and the dessert Gundel palacsinta were hands-down the best we ever tasted in Hungary (and I have been to Hungary five times). Washed down with a local peach palinka, it was absolutely fantastic, enough to go back for if we ever get back to Hungary.

1. Moulin du Roc hotel in Champagnac du Belair, France – northern Perigord (SW France) – fantastic food that manages to be both simple and decadent in it’s deliciousness. Beautifully presented food that is local, fresh and perfectly cooked. Guinea fowl with lime sauce was one of the best things I’ve ever eaten and fresh foie gras was the best ever. Worth every expensive penny and wonderful 17th century converted mill.

2. Ardnaseig Hotel – Loch Awe Scotland – phenomenal lamb in a beautiful setting. Fresh and local with an international twist on traditional Scottish ingredients. Each course just gets better in prix fixe menu – a little slice of heaven.

The most amazing meal was in Jamaica. It was an outside Jerk Chicken Stand on the beach. While the location was perfect in itself. The food was simply amazing. In fact it was so good we ate at that little stand with the wooden tables every single day of our vacation.

To this day both myself and the two other people I was traveling with all agree when someone asks us the best meal we have ever eaten ” Jamaica “.